While playing
The Beast, the one thing that struck me most was how diverse the group
of players (we called our group Cloudmakers, named after the character
Evan Chan's boat) were, both in the places we lived, and in our areas
of knowledge. It seemed, each time a new puzzle came out, a very different
area of knowledge was utilized. With the group numbering over seven thousand
strong (McGonigal, 115), no matter the topic, somebody had a clue, and
was willing to explain it to the rest. Everyone worked together to identify
the puzzle, where to find the knowledge to solve it, and the actual work
behind solving it. Often, to not spoil the pleasure of working the puzzle
out, someone would post what one needed to solve the puzzle (in one case,
how an Enigma code machine worked), and then the actual answer separately.
In this way, many players helped other players learn about a range of
topics that included chemistry, Asian languages, the Enigma code, computer
programming, forensic science, and base 64 encoding; and these were only
a few of the topics. A player in the group coined the phrase 'collective
detective' (Alex, "[Cloudmakers]…") to describe what was occurring. This
form of collaborative learning and problem solving might not be new, but
it's definitely gaining in popularity.